Don't get me wrong. I enjoy colonizing the new world, European imperialism, constructing medieval monuments, corporate takeovers, ancient Egypt, German politics, the Cold War, and Mediterranean civilizations just as much as the next gamer. Participating in a contest of wits with a group of adults can be very stimulating (and even enjoyable).

However, in certain situations, stuffy adult games and mature themes just won't cut it. In part, gaming is a form of escapism. I game to forget about that annoying coworker, the mortgage payment, tedious yardwork, looming deadlines, overdue credit card bills, and automobile maintenance. It is fun to discard the heavy mantle of adulthood and regress every now and then.

Think back to your childhood. Did you ever use the term suboptimal play, suffer from analysis paralysis, or debate the differences between strategy and tactics? No. Did you worry about seating order bias, prefer games with little downtime, or have a least-favorite mechanism? No.

Here on the geek, many of the most popular games are disguised as adult activities. Games are structured, processional, and analytical. As children, play was a lively, carefree activity that was largely experiential. As a kid, play was fun. Yes, play was rollicking, boisterous, jocular, carefree, uproarious fun. How often can you say that about your weekly session of Puerto Rico or Caylus?

This list is dedicated to dexterity games that have the ability to make even the most hardened, stoic adult gamers approach play with a child-like wonder and naivety. So,

If you've ever been at a Chinese restaurant and had a bowl of shelled peanuts in front of you that you need to pick up with chopsticks to eat, you've trained for this game. This is a game where your opponents need to be comfortable with direct scrimmaging as you compete to get the last pieces out of the bowl.

"I love this game. any game that can get four people, all in their twenties to perform crazy acts in order to win a rubber egg wins gold!!!! COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! "

"You will laugh until you cry. (And this is a good thing.) The sight of my wife attempting to waddle around the table with three eggs clutched between her knees and one in each elbow is one I will NEVER forget!"

"Who cares who wins? This game is pure unspoiled F U N. People must be ready for some acrobatic to like this game!"

"For this game you have to be brave and not fear to ridicule yourself. Play it publicly! I just love the concept of storing rubber eggs between various body parts and then doing funny stunts. Beware of overzealous players!"

A friend of mine had a set of Crossbows and Catapults when we were young. We liked the idea of shooting those plastic rings at each other's castle walls and towers, or using a catapult to fling a ring at your opponent's tower trying to knock the flag over. The only problem we had, besides having enough floor space to play on, was the rubber bands breaking all the time. You had to have the right size rubber bands so that they were strong enough to be streched across whatever they needed to be streched across, but not so strong that you couldn't use the crossbow or the catapult without giving it too much of a launch or the rubber band strecthed so tight you couldn't pull the moving part back far enough to launch the plastic ring.

Still, this was one of my favorite dexterity games when I was a child. I don't remember how many expansions they made for this game, but I think my friend had the base game and one expansion. We had a lot of bricks to build a wall out of, I can remember.

"This ranks high as one of my favorite light games. This is probably too long as a filler (if played with three rounds), but it is a great closer. The crazy thing about the game is that, for as random everthing is, there really is some tactical control.

Light and silly, this game is just chock full of goofy fun. There is a little bit of a dexterity element (although, not really), but random spice generators (aka, bottles) keeps people actively involved.

Many laughs are had as you balance screwing your fellow players and trying not to feed your dishes to the pigs. The game would work out fine with just one round, though, but chances are you will want to play more."

"Probably one of the most inventive games ever. Visually it is a stunner, and the game play hits all the marks (dexterity, strategy, screwage). All this from the creator of Die Macher?! Definitely a must have and a must play -- excellent."

"I give this such a high rating, simply because of it's mindless fun factor. Such an original concept for a game."

"I'm tempted to slap a 10 on this, and I expect it to end up there after a debut at a family function. We'll see what my regular game group thinks about this--they're old and crotchety, after all, with none of the childish glee that comes from flick-slamming another player's pawn into the netherrealm... okay, scratch that.

UPDATE: Okay, busted this out with my regular group of emotionally-stunted man-children who took one look at the box and made faces and directly questioned my manhood, mental state and geek cred... fast forward through More Games Than I Can Count™ and they were grappling with a new addiction, stunned and shamed that they just... couldn't... walk away."

"Mass-market games should not be this much fun... Hilarious dexterity game reminiscent of the ice-based sport of curling."

"This game is an absolute BLAST to play! What a stroke of brilliance by Craig Van Ness. The components are fantastic. For a very fun light dexterity game I would highly recommend giving this a try. "

"Sorry! Sliders (S!S) is a wonderful tabletop dexterity game for families. It completely succeeds in what it tries to do - provide table-shuffleboard fun for ALL ages (a child of 2 years can probably play this game, which is amazing)."

"I can't think of a more unique and fun game for only 5 bucks. Engaging, fast, and, well, unique."

"Awesome! Fast and fun lazer game. Part luck and part tactic... 100% addictive."

"This is a very unique game. The first part of the game is fast and intense. The scoring part is fun too. After many games of this, we still laugh every time one of us blows up his own ship. You get more bang for your buck with this game than any other game out there."

"Addictive little adrenaline-booster. Everyone who I've shown it to likes it; most ask where they can get a copy."

Watching pirates fly into the air when hit by the cannonballs is great. This features rubber band spring-loaded cannons, ships, and a cool tower that shoots pirates into the air when hit in the door. Loads of fun!

"Fun but aggressive game. The rules warn you to remove any rings, jewellry or wristwatches, because players duel by thrusting a hand into a black sack and FIGHT LIKE DOGS to grab to correctly shaped piece."

"Deliriously funny."

"It's fun to duel another player trying to feel your way around the bag. I found that at least for me, the frantic groping for pieces results in a lesser amount of care in feeling around - I spent just as much time swishing my hand around the bag as actually feeling the pieces."

"It's a flicking game, but there's a cut-throat element to it and a fair bit of skill - and luck. And why not play a variation? - "Snooker Willy." Put some diff coloured food on and have some worth more points than others ala snooker.Or put more food in at the start using counters from other games. Or play "killer." The weakest score each time goes out until there are two left. I know the game says for up to 4 players, but you can play with 6 if everyone starts with two racoons!"

"Nice little flicking game - with a few decent decisions."

"Squirrel heaven"

"...a little more vicious than a game like Pitchcar, since you can target other players' pieces and flick them off the board..."

"watch as they wiggle and waggle. Note - For Extra Super Bonus Fun, once someone is good at the game, take one of your magnets and put it under the table and start messing with their mind every time they are about to play."

"The extremely powerful magnetic "snake eggs" are fascinating - even a bit intimidating: when they abruptly shoot at each other and make rattling noises."

"A fun little dexterity game that can elicit great laughs because of the magnet magnetism. Warning! This game can ALSO cause a great deal of cursing when your egg goes clanging into 4 others."

"When you play with two players, it is a very vicious game. Its almost better than Polarity."